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Today I’m spinning a very chunky, thick-and-thin art yarn, using long draw technique. It’s a beautiful sunny winter’s day, so I’ve dragged onto the porch, the old Indian Head spinning wheel. This Indian head spinning wheel is mounted on a cast iron treadle, making it very heavy and not the sort of wheel you want to pick up and move around the house.  However, it does have the largest orifice of all the spinning wheels I have seen, which makes it perfect for creating chunky art yarns.

indian head spinning wheel, cast iron treadle, long draw spinning
  • FABinBC
  • FibreArtsinBC
  • FABinBC

I’m working with pure llama fibre locks from Talluleh, which I’ve dyed a gorgeous shocking pink colour. The dyed locks have been roughly carded with some of Talluleh’s undyed locks to create a variety of pinks in the finished yarn . This is a wonderful yarn for high speed mega knitting.  I’ve also left the guard hair in the fibre to give it the appearance of mohair.  Most hairy and woolly animals have a protective layer of guard hair, which is much coarser than the soft undercoat and if I were making something to be worn next to the skin,.I would want to remove as much of it as possible,   In this case though, I’m making yarn for another big throw, so I don’t mind the guard hair.

I apologise for keeping my head down, but the sun is so bright today, glaring off the snow, that I can barely see anything when I look up; I’m not complaining about the sunshine though, I absolutely love this kind of day!

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